Browns looking to add strength at center

ClevelandFanForLife

i like the idea of getting a center but we need defense first in my opinion. if we can attain another 1st or 2nd round pick via trade i say we definitely get one of these guys.

Gips

A good center and a true possession reciever and the offense can skate by 2009..if we dont get a decent run blocking/pass protection center our starting qb is going to be on his backa lot and we will be forced to run around the ends instead of into the defenses teeth again making it easy for defenses to hone in on us..

We need a lot of pieces on defense but only a couple on offense assuming butterfingers and hubbard/stallworth comes to play...

Vegasdogg

@clevelandfanforlife said:
i like the idea of getting a center but we need defense first in my opinion. if we can attain another 1st or 2nd round pick via trade i say we definitely get one of these guys.

I agree, but OL and pass rush are two big pieces to the puzzle. I'd rather have a good center than a project at OLB.

Browns2405

I wouldn't mind going LB or DE in rd. 1 then going C and WR?/RB in Rd.2 then trading D.A. and going SS, CB, OL, LB rds 3- and out...

YtownBrownsBacker

@clevelandfanforlife said:
i like the idea of getting a center but we need defense first in my opinion. if we can attain another 1st or 2nd round pick via trade i say we definitely get one of these guys.

You have a #5 pick and a #50 pick to spend on defense. #36 can be a center. Mangini likes ball control with running and short passing. can't get that done with a center taht gets pushed back into the QBs lap. Quinn will be taking a 3 step drop a lot so the middle of the line has to hold up.

Granted, we do need one more pick in the top 60. We need to trade down and/or dump Anderson

BigBrownsFan

A.Q. Shipley, anyone?

YtownBrownsBacker

@bigbrownsfan said:
A.Q. Shipley, anyone?

He's in the second tier of Centers but worth a 4th round pick. I'd rather get one of the premier centers. Not very often that you see a draft with 3 or 4 centers that could come in and start for a lot of teams. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Steelers take a center at #32 because Mack and Unger can both play guard also.

? Aloysius

Unger probably isn't much of a fit for Pittsburgh's mauling o-line. And based on the FA's we've brought in, he's probably not a fit for us either.

Mack reportedly looked great during OL drills at his pro day, but it would've been nice to hear he put up more than just 20 reps of 225. Caldwell put up 23 reps & Wood put up 30.

JewDago

@bigbrownsfan said:
A.Q. Shipley, anyone?

i'm a shipley fan. he's got the pure, mauling strength that should allow him to take on ngata and hampton, possibly one-on-one. he's not as refined as mack or unger, but he's got the strength i'd prefer our new center to have, which the other guys don't. plus, taking him would allow us to use our higher picks on more important positions.

Tobalaz

Looking at centers and their performances at the combine, someone like Jon Cooper (6'2" 291lbs) who has two seasons of center under his belt and was voted Big 12 2008 offensive lineman of the year could be a 4th or 5th round steal though he might not hold up against the big guys we're going to be facing. Most scouts have him falling into a zone blocking scheme so if that's the way we're heading he could be a solid pickup, not going zone? Probably not going to fit as well as we'd like.

Eric Wood (6'4" 310lbs) has a relatively injury free history with 49 consecutive starts and is a "big guy" to face the meat in the middle of our conference. He put up 30 reps at the combine and has received All-Big East honors in 2006 (second team), 2007 (first team), and 2008 (first team). I'd snag him with our 2nd in a heartbeat and solidify the center spot.

Alex Mac (6'4" 311lbs) is the top rated center in the daft and probably won't be there when we get our 2nd pick BUT if he's there he'd be pretty damn hard to pass on.